"Hey, Grian." Xanthe turned the corner into Grian's bedroom.

"Oh, hi Xanthe. What brings you here?" Grian asked, shuffling through some books on his desk.

"I'm supposed to ban Sam later today but... I barely know what I'm doing and I've only ever practiced a few times." He admitted, remembering the small amount of training he had done back at the palace.

"But you can do it, right?" Grian said, turning to look at his friend.

"Yeah, obviously. I'm just worried about everything..." Xanthe continued, looking for any form of reassurance.

"I'm sure it will go completely fine! We'll have weapons on site if anything goes wrong and Sam escapes. We'll even keep him cuffed during the banning if it makes you feel any better." He explained calmly.

"Thanks, Grian." Xanthe finished the conversation and left the room, climbing back down the stairs.

Outside Grian's house, preparations were being made for Sam's banishment. So far, they had excavated some of the land to create a flat surface for the banning to take place. They had been waiting for this for so long and yet it still felt so surreal to everyone involved.

Luckily, Cleo and Etho had not yet lost control of themselves. Despite this, they both subconsciously stayed away from their friends, only joining them for lunch. Fortunately, Doc had decided that he'd be able to help them with their communicators. It would be difficult and take a while but it was possible. Cleo had already volunteered to go first, wanting to have a conversation with her friends without being in fear of attacking them. Doc just needed to gather materials for the procedure.

Sam, on the other hand, had been living in a small underground prison cell for the past few days and he was getting bored. Unlike his old cell, there was no moss and the bars were reinforced with deepslate. He had only been guarded by Doc and Cleo so it was very boring in the small area.

"Alright, I'm going to go get some food. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?" Doc asked, collecting his sword which was on top of a chest.

"Sure. Just don't take too long." Cleo responded, giving him a reassuring smile.

Doc left soon after, leaving Sam with the zombified Hermit. Sam grinned. This was going to be his only chance to escape and he had to seize it.

"Until you get rid of that communicator completely, you're still under my control." Sam giggled, making his way over to the bars of the cell.

"That's rich for someone who's been imprisoned." Cleo laughed nervously. She knew he was right but she had to stay strong. She wouldn't let Sam control her again.

"You can't deny it, Cleo." Sam spat, speaking with venom.

She said nothing in response, hoping the man would ignore her and go back to the corner of the cell.

"If you join me now, we could rule this server together! And Gree-on would be the least of our worries!" Sam stared at the girl, who took a step away from the bars.

"Why would I want that!? These Hermits are like a family to me!" Cleo shouted angrily.

Sam chuckled. The angrier Cleo was, the easier it would be to take control of her.

"Well, some of them get on your nerves, right?" Sam continued his tormenting.

"Sure. But I'd never go to the length of hurting or even killing them!" Cleo shouted, feeling frustrated with the grinning man.

"It's not too late to start now~" Sam taunted, watching the zombie girl pick up her sword and point it at him.

Cleo was extremely angry and flustered, meaning she wasn't even thinking straight in the moment.

"Put the sword down." Sam asked sternly, seeing Cleo's eyes go wide as she felt the controlled part of her mind taking over.

She slowly put the sword down as if some part of her were still trying to ignore the man's orders.

"Now, how about you get me out of this cell?" Sam grinned widely. Everything was going perfectly.

Suddenly, Grian emerged around the corner and dove at Cleo, tackling her to the ground.

"Cleo! Please go back to normal! Whatever he said isn't worth this!" Grian shouted, trying to talk some sense into the flailing Hermit.

Cleo's eyes flashed with determination as her real self returned. Grian clambered off the girl as she glared at Sam.

"And you! Stop it, Sam! Please… you've already lost everything. Taurtis, Yuki, even you have lost what you've been trying to since we were teens! All we wanted to do was have fun, but your sadistic mind decided to turn it into a game where I was in constant pain and only you could win! Well guess what, Sam? YOU LOST! AND YOU'LL NEVER WIN AGAIN!" Grian sat down, feeling the world spin around him. He felt tears fall down his cheek and he felt a pit in his stomach.
Grian was a sobbing mess. He'd never really accepted what had happened when they were younger and finally realising the stuff that Sam had done really screwed him up.

Cleo was watching in disbelief as the winged Hermit slouched onto the floor, continuing to whimper and cry. He gripped his sleeves tightly to try and find some sort of comfort. Cleo didn't know what to do. She'd never really had someone cry like this in front of her. She glanced at Sam, who seemed to be smiling at the sight. This made Cleo furious. How someone could watch that sight and smile, she didn't know. But without any hesitation, she punched the grinning man through the bars, making him stumble back in surprise. She glared at him with her deep green eyes.

Two new Hermits entered the room. Xisuma and Scar, who ran around the corner very quickly. They had heard the commotion and wanted to know what was going on.

"Cleo are you two oka- What happened to Grian!?" Xisuma asked as he saw the sobbing Hermit.

Upon seeing Grian, Scar tackled him into a hug, which made Grian stop shaking but he still continued gripping his sleeves and the tears continued to roll down his face.

"I'm not really sure what happened... All I know is that he started shouting at Sam and something he said triggered this episode of his. I really wanted to help but I didn't know how." Cleo explained, watching Grian calm down in Scar's grasp.

Xisuma acknowledged her words with a nod and went over to Grian where he sat down beside the two friends, smiling kindly at the shorter of the two.

Grian had buried his face into Scar's shoulder but had mostly stopped crying. He pulled away from the hug, now just sat beside Scar awkwardly.

"Are you alright, Grian?" Xisuma asked.

Grian nodded awkwardly.

"That's good. Can you tell me what triggered this anxiety attack?" Xisuma continued, watching the Hermit look down guiltily.

"…I don't really know. I-... I guess it was just everything that has happened recently just hit me all at once… I just want this entire experience to be over…" Grian admitted nervously, averting his eyes from the taller Hermit.

"Listen, Grian. It's okay to be scared of everything that's happened. I was terrified when I first found out what Sam had been doing to you. But when you do get overwhelmed, please don't hold in your feelings like usual. We're all here if you ever need anyone to talk to." Xisuma advised, recieving a warm smile from Scar.
Grian nodded, knowing that X meant everything he said, wholeheartedly.

He finally accepted his past because no matter how hard he tried to forget, it was a part of him and it made him the person he is today.